Cigarette and e-cigarette manufacturers will have an extra three months to remove flavorings from their products, until January 1, 2024. writes Maarten van Ooijen (Christian Union), State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport, to the House of Representatives on Monday. Cigarettes and vapes with flavors other than tobacco flavor (such as fruit or mint) should disappear from the shelves from October 1, the cabinet previously announced.
According to the cabinet “one of the main aspects that make e-cigarettes attractive to both young people and adults is the diversity of flavors available”. Nevertheless, the cabinet decided to postpone enforcing the regulations after it appeared that the new stricter taste rules for (e-)cigarettes are so strict that almost all existing e-cigarettes must be taken off the market, including vapes with a tobacco flavour. The cabinet does want vapes with tobacco flavor to remain on the market; they would not be as attractive to young people as fruit-flavored vapes, but for cigarette smokers they would be an intermediate step towards a complete withdrawal.
The cabinet is severely limiting the room for maneuver of the tobacco industry and smokers. In 2040, a smoke-free generation must grow up. From April 1, 2024, the average pack of twenty cigarettes will cost 10 euros. The number of places where smoking is allowed will be gradually limited. The damage that e-cigarettes cause to health has not been properly mapped out, but according to the cabinet there are “increasing indications” that vaping is a problem for young people. step is to smoking cigarettes.